Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies

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Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]
8.
Commitments and Contingencies
 
Hazardous Waste
In connection with our waste management services, we process both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, which we transport to our own, or other, facilities for destruction or disposal. As a result of disposing of hazardous substances, in the event any cleanup is required, we could be a potentially responsible party for the costs of the cleanup notwithstanding any absence of fault on our part.
 
Legal Matters
In the normal course of conducting our business, we are involved in various litigation. We are
not
a party to any litigation or governmental proceeding which our management believes could result in any judgments or fines against us that would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, liquidity or results of future operations.
 
Insurance
The Company has a
25
-year finite risk insurance policy entered into in
June 2003
with American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”), which provides financial assurance to the applicable states for our permitted facilities in the event of unforeseen closure. The policy, as amended, provides for a maximum allowable coverage of
$39,000,000
and has available capacity to allow for annual inflation and other performance and surety bond requirements. All of the required payments for this finite risk insurance policy, as amended, were previously made by the Company. At
June 30, 2017,
our financial assurance coverage amount under this policy totaled approximately
$29,473,000.
The Company has recorded
$15,608,000
and
$15,546,000
in sinking funds related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at
June 30, 2017
and
December 31, 2016,
respectively, which includes interest earned of
$1,136,000
and
$1,075,000
on the sinking funds as of
June 30, 2017
and
December 31, 2016,
respectively. Interest income for the
three
and
six
months ended
June 30, 2017
was approximately
$34,000
and
$61,000,
respectively. Interest income for the
three
and
six
month periods ended
June 30, 2016,
was approximately
$24,000
and
$38,000,
respectively. If the Company so elects, AIG is obligated to pay us an amount equal to
100%
of the sinking fund account balance in return for complete release of liability from both us and any applicable regulatory agency using this policy as an instrument to comply with financial assurance requirements.
 
The Company also had a finite risk insurance policy dated
August 2007
for our PFNWR facility with AIG (“PFNWR policy”) which provided financial assurance to the State of Washington in the event of closure of the PFNWR facility. The Company had recorded
$5,941,000
in finite risk sinking funds at
December 31, 2016
in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets which included interest earned of
$241,000
on the sinking fund. In
April 2017,
the Company received final releases from state and federal regulators for the PFNWR policy which enabled the Company to cancel the PFNWR policy resulting in the release of approximately
$5,951,000
on
May 1, 2017
in finite sinking funds previously held by AIG as collateral for the PFNWR policy. The Company used the released finite sinking funds to pay off its revolving credit with the remaining funds to be used for general working capital needs. The Company has acquired new bonds in the required amount of approximately
$7,000,000
(“new bonds”) to replace the PFNWR policy in providing financial assurance for the PFNWR facility. Upon receipt of the
$5,951,000
in finite sinking funds from AIG, the Company and its lender executed a standby letter of credit in the amount of
$2,500,000
as collateral for the new bonds for the PFNWR facility. In addition, the Company’s lender placed an additional
$750,000
restriction on the Company’s borrowing availability pursuant to a “Condition Subsequent” clause in the
November 17, 2016
amendment that the Company entered into with its lender. Interest income earned under the PFNWR policy for the
three
and
six
months ended
June 30, 2017
was approximately
$2,000
and
$10,000,
respectively. Interest income for the
three
and
six
month periods ended
June 30, 2016,
was approximately
$5,000
and
$7,000,
respectively.
 
Letter of Credits and Bonding Requirements
From time to time, we are required to post standby letters of credit and various bonds to support contractual obligations to customers and other obligations, including facility closures. At
June 30, 2017,
the total amount of standby letters of credit outstanding totaled approximately
$2,675,000
and the total amount of bonds outstanding totaled approximately
$8,253,000.